They Didn't Suffer
by LavernaG
Summary: Nicolette Cayman was not a monster. She was simply misunderstood and heart-broken. She only did what was right. One-shot.


_**I just watched**_ **"What happened to Monday?"** _ **, and I was really impressed by Glenn Close's performance as the antagonist of the story. Everyone sees Nicolette Cayman as the villain - she kills children, she hunts down the protagonists of the movie. But I did understand her cause, that this was all for the greater good. So I thought I ought to write something that would serve as an excuse for her deeds in the movie. I hope this'll do.**_

 _ **Also, throughout the entire movie, I kept looking at Glenn, thinking, "I know this woman. She played some evil character somewhere." After watching the movie I Googled her. I can never forgive myself for not recognizing Cruella de Vil.**_

* * *

"You are a heartless, cruel person!" The Tuesday Karen Settman's words had stung so bad that Nicolette had found herself unable to leave before explaining herself to the young woman. There was no point in her explaining, of course - after what she had let them do to the Tuesday Karen the woman's opinion about her was hardly going to change. But Nicolette nevertheless wanted to make her understand her, at least a bit.

Nicolette sat down on the side of the bed, on which in the corner of the room had nestled the poor tortured Tuesday. Her only eye was glaring at her with disgust and anger. Nicolette couldn't bring herself to look at the woman. Instead she let her eyes rest on the plain white of the wall as she spoke. "I do have a heart - a broken one, but nevertheless a heart," Nicolette said, her tone carrying slightly more feeling than when she had spoken earlier. "You don't understand me, because you don't know."

Nicolette Cayman remembered it like it was yesterday. Her beautiful triplets girls had been born healthy and without difficulties. Her heart was full of joy when she first held the three precious children in her arms. What a wonderful day! Nicolette only wished it would last forever.

Her husband, Robert Cayman, was a politician, concentrating on the problem of overpopulation. He believed there should be no siblings. Every family should be limited to have only one child, so that the population would stop growing like it had for the last century. He had been overjoyed to receive three beautiful babies from his beautiful wife. But when he had gone to celebrate that evening, his wife having a well-deserved rest at the hospital, Robert had a few too many glasses to drink. His worldly values mixed with the events of the day in his head, bringing him to the conclusion that he himself had been acting against his beliefs. He was a firm believer in the one-child-rule, and yet he had just become the father of triplets. It might have been the drink or it might have been the influence of his colleagues that evening that made Robert return to the hospital.

Nicolette woke with happiness, ready to get to know her girls and her new role as mother. But when the nurse came to her only minutes after she woke, the news she received sent her into a faint. Two of her infants had been stabbed to death during the night.

With a broken, heavy heart Nicolette raised her only daughter with as much care as a mother could. She wanted to spoil the girl. Each time she set her eyes upon her, Nicolette admired again the miracle she had created. She never told Theresa that she had had siblings. Robert had died in a car crash when their daughter was only a year old.

Life was as pleasant as it could be, given the circumstances. But when Terry turned six, her immune system began to weaken. She fell ill and lost any interest in anything. Nicolette stayed home from work to take care of her daughter. Terry had pains that the doctors couldn't explain, her condition worsened at a terrifying speed. It was agonizing for Nicolette to see her child suffer. It wasn't long, though, before Terry died.

"I've been assured that none of the children will suffer," Nicolette said. "It has always been my priority - save the world, and make sure no one suffers."

Tuesday had listened with genuine interest. It surprised her a great deal that she felt herself feeling sorry for the older woman, and that she understood her. But the end of the story did not satisfy her. "No one suffers?" she asked incredulously. "What about the parents? And the children who see their siblings being taken away?"

"Humans are so self-centred," replied Nicolette with a sigh. "You don't see that this is our only way of surviving. It's not about your feelings, or your family, or your love - it's not about you. It's about saving our world."

A long deafening silence followed.

Tuesday watched Nicolette wipe at her eyes briefly. So, she did it all for the good of the people. That was certainly what she had let the world believe, but none of the Settmans had ever thought she would really mean it. They had always thought there was some world domination or popularity gaining scheme on the woman's mind. And what she did to the children had seemed a cruel act.

But now, watching the older woman weep right there in front of her, Tuesday didn't see her as the villain anymore. She was a hero. The crucial decisions she made, the rules she set, and the measures she had to use to keep everyone sticking to the rules were all there thanks to Dr. Cayman's determination to save everything everyone knew. On the TV Dr. Cayman had seemed like a cold professional being, but in person she was full of humanly emotions, pushed back by the tragedy she had endured years ago.

Nicolette stood to leave. She had spent enough time telling her sorry story to the woman who probably hated her more than anything else in the world. She was embarrassed to have wept in front of Tuesday, and she wanted to be back in her office as soon as possible to compose herself again.

"What are you going to do to me and my sisters?" asked Tuesday before Dr. Cayman could reach the door. "We are all suffering. Are you going to kill us?"

Nicolette turned towards the younger woman, for the first time looking up at Tuesday's one-eyed bloody face. "I wish there was another way," she said quietly. "I do. We could put all of you to sleep like we do to the rest of the siblings. But I don't think any of your sisters will let us."

She looked at Tuesday for a long moment, her eyes full of regret and her lips trembling in betrayal of her feelings. Then she straightened her back, and turned to leave, her head held a little higher than usually and her shoulders set stiffly.

Tuesday was more shocked at herself than at Dr. Cayman. She found herself believing every single word the woman spoke, and hating herself for proving a difficult setback in her plans.

* * *

Nicolette stood silently behind the door of the children's room. She watched as the worker helped the kids draw. She watched the children play together, watched them sleep peacefully in their small comfy beds. And a painful desire to be there with them struck her.

She had always loved children. These small innocent people didn't deserve anything but the best happiness. She hated herself for having to take them away from their parents. But she considered it a small accomplishment when the family's living conditions had been poor and the child was better off here. She had made a promise to herself that she wouldn't let them suffer.

The scientists had assured her that the sleeping and freezing plan would work, and that the children would feel no pain whatsoever. Nicolette believed them. She had no wish to see the process herself. She had trustworthy employees for that. As long as these children were safe, she would be contented.

* * *

The Settman girls had won - quite permanently so. Nicolette thought back to the day of her downfall bitterly. The Tuesday Karen Settman had escaped, the Monday one shot to dead, and the third one whose day Nicolette didn't know had watched her decline with the most contented expression one could manage.

Everything had been going according to plan. She'd gotten the money from Monday, and she had had every support from the people. And then that video had started playing on the big screen.

Everyone - save for Karen Settman, whichever one she was - had watched the scene with curiosity mixed with terror. Nicolette herself had never before seen what they did to the children in the laboratory, she'd only been told about every step. And it had been nothing like what she had seen on the screen that moment.

The child had been burnt to crisp - or truthfully, mere ashes. There had been no freezing and saving for the better days, there had simply been a cruel murder. At the realization that every child she had confiscated from their parents had faced the same fate, Nicolette had fainted right there on the spot.

When she had opened her eyes after a few moments, she had been held by two men and stared at by everyone in the room. The looks they had given her were full of disappointment, hatred and disgust. Pictures of her own dead children had flashed before her eyes as Nicolette fought to regain her balance.

She had wanted to tell everyone that she had not known what they did to the children. She had needed to assure them that she had not encouraged this barbaric action. But all she had managed to say was that the children didn't suffer. She had not been betrayed on that. At least the poor little children had not suffered.

"They didn't suffer," Nicolette had kept on repeating. "They didn't suffer."

In her small white cell, Nicolette waited for her court day. It was almost certain that she would be assigned to execution. She had told the people that they had brought their downfall on themselves by locking her up. But humans will never learn.

"Dr. Cayman." There was a knock on Nicolette's cell door and the small hatch in the door was opened. "I thought you might be interested in this. It's a big hit. You can have it for two days at the most." With that the guard dropped a rather heavy book inside the cell and closed the hatch again.

Nicolette had asked them to keep her updated on the news concerning her one-child-rule. No one had seen why not, so the guards had been bringing her newspapers and told her what had been on the TV for the entire time she had been in prison. The book, however, was a first.

It was quite too thick for a bestseller. Why would so many people read a story so long? From her spot on the hard settee in the corner of the cell, Nicolette could not see the cover of the book. And why would the guard give her two days to read it? With nothing better to do with her time, Nicolette would be finished with it by the evening.

She stood up with no haste, and picked up the heavy book. When she read the cover, her heart began to race just a little faster. " _"What happened to Monday? - Our life in hiding"_ by Karen and Theresa Settman," read the cover. Nicolette dropped back into her seat, releasing a small breath. She was more than convinced that the authors would have pictured her as a cruel devil, unfeeling and inconsiderate.

By the time she had finished the book, however, Nicolette was thoroughly convinced otherwise. Theresa Settman had written two chapters about her entirely, and she had explained everything she did, and why she did it. Nicolette hadn't told anyone she hadn't known about the burning of the children, but somehow Settman had known and announced it in the book. This was not going to save Nicolette's life, of course, but it might just save her name.

Nicolette learned from the book that right from when they were very little, the Settman girls had been mistrustful of her and her methods. That was logical - she was the reason they all had to impersonate one woman. But by the end of the book, Nicolette Cayman was said to be a selfless hero.

"Bless you, Tuesday," whispered Nicolette as she hugged the book tight, curling up on the cold prison bed.

 _The End_

* * *

 ** _If you noticed the tiny reference to "101 Dalmatians" then you are a blessed kindred spirit._**


End file.
